As modern aviation advances, the demand for providing and transferring various types of aviation data also increases. For instance, a user (e.g., pilot, flight attendant, mechanic or the like) may be required to enter a significant amount of data in to one or more avionics systems onboard the aircraft prior to the departure. This may include data such as flight plan, charts, weight and balance information, list of legs, weather data, performance data, as well as other data that may be related to the flight. During the flight, data may also be transferred such as updates to aircraft position, altitude, inside/outside air temperature and pressure, heading or the general aircraft health status. In addition, after finishing the flight, the user may also be required to transfer the trip/flight close-out data from the avionics system(s) to a paper-based or an electronic filing system. The close-out data may include data related to the actual flight plan, weather conditions encountered, fuel burnt, procedures performed, maintenance data, faults, incidents, pilot activities, duty cycles, snags, as well as other data that may be related to the completed flight.
Various methods may be utilized for transferring such aviation data. For example, a user may manually copy the data from/to a paper medium (e.g., a notepad or a printed form). While this method is commonly practiced, it is time consuming and prone to human error. To reduce the workload required of the user, the data may be communicated electronically. For instance, data may be copied from/to a device that can be connected to the avionics system onboard the aircraft via a communication port (e.g., a USB port or the like). However, such a device requires a communication port and specialized protocols, and therefore may not be compatible with all aircrafts. Furthermore, adding a communication port to an aircraft introduces additional cost, weight and complexity, and may also need to be certified.
Certain wireless communication protocols may also be utilized for entering and/or transferring such aviation data. For example, data-link services or onboard Wi-Fi routers may be utilized to facilitate such communications. However, they also require additional hardware, which add weight, consume power, and may need to be certified as well. Globally, the frequencies upon which wireless communications occur are not consistent from country to country, which requires the equipage to either be adjusted or turned off when the aircraft operates within that country. Furthermore, wireless communication protocols may introduce certain security concerns, and therefore require additional attention to address such concerns.
Current interface approaches, which tend to be hardware based, are also difficult, time consuming and costly to change leading to systems and interfaces that restrict the efficacy and ability to evolve and change processes and procedures leading to betterment of the aviation experience. Additionally, current interface approaches are difficult to secure and therefore present serious security and access authorization challenges such as hacking.
Therein lies a need for providing and transferring aviation information without the aforementioned shortcomings.